Items tagged with 3D-Printing
The 3D printer market is wide open, particularly as it pertains to innovation, and a gang of college kids from Brooklyn are sticking their collective foot in the door with a unique 3D printer design that promises simplicity, fast print speeds, and inexpensive expandable print volume. Instead of the box design that most 3D printers on the market employ, the Deltaprintr has an open air construction with a trio of tall aluminum poles with attached arms that control the printer head. The machine uses 65-lb fishing line instead of belts to control the carriages, and there’s a 10-inch diameter build platform and a small LCD display with an SD card slot. The 0.4mm tip can handle printing...
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3D Systems and Xerox have been working together for some time, notably on the former’s ProJet series 3D printers, but the two companies have further cemented their relationship. 3D Systems is purchasing Xerox’s product design, engineering, and chemistry group (based in Wilsonville, OR). "We are pleased to expand our relationship with an innovative partner of the caliber of Xerox and expect that acquiring some of the Xerox Wilsonville engineering team, together with their state-of the-art development labs and selected licensed IP, will catapult our 3D printers’ development and manufacturing capabilities forward,” said Avi Reichental, 3D Systems’ President and CEO...
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The wonderful and terrifying robot future portended by Amazon’s delivery drones isn’t exclusive to the e-tailer giant; Google is getting in on the robot action, too. The company is looking to develop humanoid robots that could perform tasks such as manufacturing electronics, loading up products to ship, and even delivering goods to your front door. Andy Rubin and robots (Credit: Jim Wilson/NYT) Andy Rubin, of Android fame, is heading up the project, and according to a New York Times piece on the subject, the effort is being well-funded by Google, so it’s not just some cute idea that will never see the light of day. However, Rubin acknowledges that this won’t be an easy...
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3D Systems can lay claim to some compelling projects, including the handheld Sense 3D scanner, and you can add a new full color printer to that list. The ProJet 4500 is a professional 3D printer that can print in continuous CMY color with a layer of 0.1mm. The ProJet 4500 uses a plastic print material called VisiJet C4 Spectrum, which boasts high flexibility and strength and, with the ProJet 4500’s capabilities, can produce over a million unique color possibilities. The printer is designed with a feature to recycle its materials, making for a greener overall product (and one that’s ostensibly less expensive to use). The device offers a vertical print speed of 8mm/hr, and the net build...
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According to a report from MarketsandMarkets, the 3D printing industry is poised for huge growth in the next several years. By 2020, the industry should hit upwards of $8.4 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of a healthy 23%. Of note is that much of that growth will come from the healthcare and aerospace industries, as opposed to hobbyists, makers, and the like, and although the Americas currently leads the world, Europe is slated to surpass it in terms of revenue by 2020. The APAC region will see a lot of growth, as well. Growth will come from hobbyists and makers with printers like the MakerBot Replicator 2, but the bulk will come from other fields Factors contributing to the 3D printing...
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Motorola is forging ahead with the concept of modular, customizable smartphones first put forth by designer Dave Hakkens with his Phonebloks. The company said recently that it was officially pursuing such an idea with Project Ara, and Motorola is already putting together important partnerships to make it happen. 3D Systems, a maker of 3D printers and other related products, has signed on to create a “continuous high-speed 3D printing production platform and fulfillment system” for it. In other words, 3D Systems is going to print parts for the project, and what’s more, the company has what appears to be an exclusive agreement to make all the enclosures and modules for Project...
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A British company called CEL has developed a 3D printer that portends to offer extraordinary ease of use without sacrificing high-end features. The stylish Robox 3D Printer will cost $1,364 when it launches in the U.S. early next year, and it includes CEL’s AutoMaker software that’s designed to let users simply choose the design they want and print--no fuss, no muss. The Robox doesn’t skimp on features, though; it has an auto-leveling system to ensure that the build platform is always flat, and the extruder system features a dual pinch wheel and closed feedback loop to ensure even distribution of print material. Because of the dual-extruder system, the Robox can also print two...
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According to a report from Israeli newspaper Calcalist, Apple has completed an acquisition for PrimeSense, the company originally behind Microsoft’s Kinect. The paper did not cite any sources, so take the report for what it’s worth, but the deal is reportedly for $345 million. PrimeSense issued a non-statement statement on the matter, telling various outlets that “"We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and natural interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices. We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumours...
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As we mentioned earlier today, Microsoft is really on board this whole 3D printing thing, loading Windows 8.1 with native 3D printing capabilities and working closely with MakerBot to develop a driver for the latter’s Replicator 2 3D printer, but that’s not all. Microsoft also now has an app called 3D Builder that lets users more easily set up a design for 3D printing. 3D Builder, which is available for free in the Windows Store starting today, lets users manipulate existing designs stashed in the app’s library or upload their own designs made in other applications. Features include the ability to scale, arrange, rotate, and adjust objects and even stack or push designs together...
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When Microsoft announced its eagerly anticipated Windows 8.1 update, the company promised native 3D printing support. MakerBot worked with Microsoft to develop its own 3D printer driver for the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D printer, which is now available via the Windows Update Service. The MakerBot 3D Printer Driver will enable users to print in 3D from within capable software applications just as you’d print any document. MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis said that the company worked closely with Microsoft to produce a driver that would be plug-and-play ready. It sounds like Microsoft got something out of it, too. “Working with MakerBot on creating the 3D printer driver has been a great...
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Makerbot is ready to make the push beyond hobbyists, makers, and engineers and into the schools, exciting and educating the next generation of kids about 3D printing. The company, which is now owned by Stratasys, announced an initiative to put a MakerBot 3D printer in every school in the country. The MakerBot Academy initiative is a partnership with America Makes and Autodesk, and the group has lofty goals in mind--namely, ensuring that the next industrial revolution happens in the U.S. and is driven by the innovations of 3D printing. MakerBot cited President Obama’s call to action in the State of the Union address, when he said, “3D printing has the potential to revolutionize the...
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For consumers, the 3D printing market is developing rapidly, and recently one of the vectors for growth has been on the 3D scanning side of things. Industry mainstay MakerBot and upstart Rubicon have both announced consumer-oriented 3D scanners in the last few months, and now 3D Systems (maker of the Cube 3D) has one, too. The Sense 3D Scanner presents a totally different approach to 3D scanning than MakerBot and Rubicon; while the other two have users place an object on a rotating disc, the Sense is a handheld device that you can pass over just about anything, from a small object to a full-size person to really anything 10 feet by 10 feet in size. 3D Systems is spinning it as “physical...
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It was not very long ago that most people had never heard of 3D printing, but suddenly 3D printing retail locations are beginning to crop up on street corners here and there. It was just last year that MakerBot opened a retail location in New York City, and more stores are coming. For example, there’s Deezmaker 3D Printers & Hackersapce in Pasadena, CA; The 3D Printing Store in Denver, CO and Englewood, CO; GetPrinting3D in Evanston, IL and Dayton, OH; and HoneyBee3D in Oakland, CA. That’s not to mention iMakr and several locations of The Color Company in the UK and iGo3D in Germany. HoneyBee3D retail store (Credit: Makezine) Certainly, more and more of these stores will be opening...
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Ultimaker is releasing its latest 3D printer, the Ultimaker 2, and the new machine features significant redesigns from the first iteration of the Ultimaker. The company says that the new version is more accurate, more efficient, and it’s even quieter at 49dB. Specifically, the Ultimaker 2 has a new CNC-milled case (that’s all white with glowing sidewalls) with an OLED display, and its glass and aluminum build platform is designed to cool quickly so you can peel completed projects off more easily. The Ultimaker 2 can print with multiple materials, including PLA, ABS, and PVA, and it’s WiFi-compatible so you can print from a mobile device or computer (so long as the printer is...
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Elon Musk Unveils His Vision For 'The Future of Design' With Hand Manipulated Holographic Technology
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (who we could safely call a futurist at this, can’t we?) has more on his mind that just cars and 4,000 MPH Hyperloop transportation systems. He also tweeted his intention of developing a hand-manipulated hologram design engine and promised to post a video of designing a rocket part with only hand gestures and printing the part in titanium. I can’t believe I just typed that sentence. The video is up, and here it is: Musk showed a wireframe of the rocket part, and he was able to rotate the 3D object on a screen with one hand, and with a second hand, he zoomed in and out, moved it around the screen, and spun the object around and “caught it”--all in the...
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Distributed manufacturing is most definitely evolving thanks in large part to innovations in the 3D printing world, and a company called Mebotics is looking to take things a step further with the Microfactory, an all-in-one machine that etches, 3D prints, and mills. The unit is small and light enough to rest on a tabletop or desk, and it’s also designed to run quietly and mess-free enough that it won’t disturb your downstairs neighbors or roommate while you’re working. The Microfactory has a fully-functional onboard computer complete with WiFi, USB, and Ethernet connections that allow for a variety of ways to control it (i.e., remotely) and input data and designs, and all of...
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A company called AIO Robotics announced that it will be launching a Kickstarter campaign on September 4th to raise money for a 3D printer that also offers 3D “copying” (i.e., 3D scanning), and 3D faxing. (Yes, 3D faxing, as in you could “fax” someone a 3D file that would automatically print on their 3D printer. The use case on that seems quite narrow, although we suppose that if it’s perfected, it could have some benefit over time.) The printer may be given the name “Zeus”. More notable features of this prototype include that it will run on its own ARM-based onboard computer that you can navigate with a 7-inch touchscreen. Thus, it wouldn’t need...
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The MakerBot Digitizer that the company teased as a prototype back at SXSW earlier this year is coming, and soon; MakerBot says that the Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner will be on sale starting the week of August 19th. That’s next week. The MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner is designed to make it easy for the average at-home user to scan an object, create a 3D image of it, and then print it on a 3D printer. MakerBot says that the software should let users create 3D models with just two clicks and produce a digital design file in minutes. Bre Pettis demoing Digitizer 3D Scanner prototype (Image credit: Mashable/Emily Price) Users won’t need any special design skills such as CAD, and...
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3D printing continues to edge ever closer to the mainstream, and on the heels of 3D Systems’ announcement that Office Depot will carry its Cube and CubeX 3D printers (for $1,299 and $2,499 respectively), the company has released software that should make designing and printing 3D products much easier for the average user. Cubify Sculpt software is a virtual clay sculpting tool based on 3D Systems’ volumetric CAD engine that allows users to create freeform shapes and intuitively create designs that are ready to print on a 3D printer. Features include embossing with textures, adding colors with “paint”, simple push and pull sculpting tools, and the ability to import and...
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We’re seeing 3D printing incorporate itself into the mainstream rather quickly, from a sudden presence on Amazon, eBay, and Staples to driver support in Windows 8.1. The latest indication that 3D printing is the Next Big Thing is the fact that Microsoft is carving out space in its retail outlets to showcase MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D printers. 18 total Microsoft stores in states including California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia, and Washington are now offering a “MakerBot Experience” that lets customers see 3D printing in action. You can buy a Replicator 2 and the filament you need right...
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3D printing is an exciting technology to track, in large part because of the implications of a mature 3D printing ecosystem wherein 3D printers are inexpensive enough for the average household to have a good one and there are enough designs out there for people to print whatever they need. Small-scale manufacturing will be revolutionized. A researcher at Michigan Technological University did a study to determine the financial feasibility of at-home 3D printing versus purchasing products online. They looked at how much it cost to make 20 different products at home using a RepRap 3D printer and designs from Thingiverse, factoring in time spent printing, energy costs, and materials,...
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When the folks behind Fuel3D say they have a 3D camera scanner, they’re not talking about a simple stereoscopic device; rather the Fuel3D is a “fully 3D surface scanner consisting of a large number of physical and color measurements” including geometric stereo and photometric stereo data, which it then combines to create the image. The kicker is that the device—which kind of resembles a Roomba--costs under $1,000, and it works just like a point-and-shoot camera. You simply attach a tag called a target to the person or object you want to scan and snap the picture. Then, you can work with the image and export it in a variety of formats. Check out our 3D Printer...
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